Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Nephews, Books, and Dolls

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It’s so brisk and cool out there this morning! I have a sweater on….what????  Our transition to Autumn weather was rather abrupt, but I’m fully on board. And the light is gradually changing to that beautiful golden light that I love so much.

Yes, if you missed it, my nephew passed the bar exam in Florida, so he is officially a lawyer. In August, he started working for the Pinellas County District Attorney’s office. Everyone who took this year’s exam commented on how hard it was – harder than usual, according to those who had taken it more than once. I’m so proud of him and all he has accomplished after having gone through a harrowing time when he was a teenager. My sister was there at his side through all of it, of course.

Monday was also the day in which Z was having surgery. (He’s fine, all is well. I’ll leave any details for Mere to discuss.) So, as Mere was driving him to the hospital, the phone rang and it was son #2 saying he’d passed the bar. Talk about an emotional day!

One of the books I’d been waiting for is now at my local library branch, so I’m headed over there later today. It’s the newest in “The Girl with… ” series – The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons.  I finished Yellowface  yesterday morning (loved it) so I’m ready for a new read.

Time for a couple of dolly photos:

Nina in her back-to-school outfit. Her body is a bit taller than the bodies of the other girls and her legs seem so long! I love the veins that the customizer painted on her forehead and eyelids.

And a Gene Marshall doll I managed to snag on eBay for next-to-nothing:

This doll is called Iced Coffee. I’ve loved it since I first discovered these dolls. But what I love even more are the great hair rolls and the SNOOD! Oh my goodness, I’ve always loved snoods. My hair, unfortunately, is too fine/thin for any kind of snood, so I’ll live vicariously through this doll. (She comes with the snood, necklace and a matching bracelet, earrings, and that brooch pinned at her waist.

If only we all had Gene’s impossibly small waist.

I know there are Gene collectors who dress and redress their dolls, even making clothes for them (and some of them are exquisite.) But I like them as they are and keep them in the outfits designed for that specific doll. Of course, there are lots of Gene outfits that were sold separately, so I suspect the way to deal with that is to buy one nude Gene doll and use that doll for modeling other outfits. I’ve learned a lot about this from my friend, Doug, who was one of the three original clothing designers for Gene Marshall. He has such fascinating stories to tell!

My Blythes are the dolls I play with and redress, because they’re so gosh darned cute.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

 

What Are You Reading?

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It rained all night and it’s raining this morning. We tend to go to bed and wake up early, so it’s still dark as we rise and stumble through turning the lights on and making the coffee. In the spring and summer, I love the fact that there is bird song and light when we first wake up. In the autumn and winter, I love rising in the darkness as there’s something beautifully cozy about it. As I start writing this post, the dark is just beginning to fade away.

It all comes down to nesting, I think. Hibernating. Shutting the world out.

That’s something we talked about this morning – being careful about what we let in on a daily basis. Protecting our little world here as we move forward. We’re going to make a concentrated effort to avoid the things we can’t control, to shut out the noise of endless ‘news.’ It’s taking a toll on both of us and we must protect the quality of our life. It’s entirely up to us.

I’ve written about this before. But sometimes it gets away from us and we’re overwhelmed once again.

I do think I had some sort of reaction to the vaccines – most likely the RSV vaccine which is new. It went on for a few days and that, combined with sinus trouble from the sudden change in the weather, made for a lethargic and slightly achy me.  I slept a lot. Hopefully, all of that is over now. We’ll get our Covid vaccination in October.

I’m reading Yellowface  by R. F. Kuang. She wrote Babel, which was one of my favorite reads this year. She is a gifted and inventive writer. I have more books on my hold list in the library system and I’m hoping a couple of those arrive at my library branch in the next few days. I also pulled out a newer biography of George Gershwin that I purchased last year – Summertime. I’ve read several bios about that brilliant man who is one of my favorite composers – but an in depth conversation with Don last year about my love for his music led to the discovery of this relatively new book, published in 2019. I sometimes like to read both fiction and nonfiction at the same time.

I suppose I’m missing reading two books at once, as I did all year long until I finished War and Peace.

So, our question for this Monday: What are you reading?

UPDATE: My nephew (Mere’s middle son) passed his bar exam!!!!!!!!!

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

 

The Beginning of the Change of Seasons

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The view as we drove home from getting vaccinated. Just around that curve and down the road a bit is the nursery where I get all my plants.

We did have mild reactions, by the way. Nothing terrible, just feeling a bit achy, and not-quite-right. But, we got both vaccines at the same time, something we normally don’t do. I was a bit off all day long, Anyway, I’m feeling better today, as is Don. That’s good, as he has a gig this afternoon.

I may mow. We’ll see.

It’s turned much cooler – yesterday felt positively fall-like. I’m happy about that as the summer was far from ideal and I’m ready to move on.

I still see one or two of the groundhogs, but not very often. The babies are no longer babies and have found their own homes. I’m relieved not to have to monitor the garden constantly, but I do miss their playful presence. I ran across the photos I took of them when they first emerged with their mom and I got sad. Ah, well. I rarely see any of the rabbits either.

The groundhogs will start to hibernate next month. Although I’m ready for fall, there’s always a bit of melancholy attached to the seasonal change into fall and then winter. Don and I were sitting on the glider during a break from mowing and I looked out at all the trees and the green leaves and reminded him that we had waited all winter and into the early spring to finally see some green out there. And soon that will be gone.

But for now, my brown-eyed susans are still in bloom, lots of wildflowers are blooming, but the coneflowers are fading. The giant zinnias are still hanging in there and so are the Rose of Sharon bushes, both of which have plenty of buds yet to open. (I never know which plant names to capitalize!)

Even this fading zinnia is beautiful, almost sculptural. Time to take a walk around the property and take some pictures.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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